


Broken Ice

by mousesprings



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Crying, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, a lot of it, snufkin goes fucking ham
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 13:10:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18572146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousesprings/pseuds/mousesprings
Summary: Turned out Moomintroll's feelings were not as one-sided as he originally thought.





	Broken Ice

**Author's Note:**

> holy fuck i have sitting on this account for 4 years and i have finally submitted something. hallelujah. 
> 
> ok so i kinda wrote this on impulse the other day in the span of maaaaybe 3 hours, and just now had the courage to submit it. i'm a little nervous but it's about time i post something lol. it's basically just a oneshot of snufkin going off the rails because he's gay and doesn't know what to do about it. i fear it may be too ooc but to be honest in episode 2 of moominvalley.... dude's got a lot going on
> 
> so yeah i hope you like it <:3

"...Okay, see you next spring!" Moomintroll spun around and hurtled straight into the underbrush, leaving Snufkin totally stunned.

\--

The frost was thickening. It crunched underfoot as Snufkin sprinted through the forest, his backpack abandoned somewhere near the old bridge. He fell in beside a thinned birch to catch his breath as he searched along the ground for vague footprints. He finally caught sight of some, and swiftly resumed his mission on following them. 

The tracks spiraled through the forest in an indefinite direction, leaving Snufkin to turn at sharp corners and to plunge himself through a thicket, wriggling himself free of the tendrils that grabbed hold of his robe, his legs and his arms. He nearly stumbled on his way through a wall of reindeer moss, but the prints finally led him to a part of the forest with less hazards. 

A small, empty clearing was split off by the trees, platforming on some sort of cliff edge. The wind whistled thickly and Snufkin held himself against a tree to catch his breath, finding the culprit of the footprints at once. They led all the way to the rock perched in the centre of the clearing, where Moomintroll was sitting.

Moomintroll had spun around immediately upon hearing the shuffle of leaves and heavy breathing come from behind him. He met eyes with Snufkin and his heart jumped; Snufkin looked panicked - angry, even. It was hard to tell through the rim of his hat that was shielding seemingly more of his face than it had before, and he did not think he recalled Snufkin ever looking that disheveled. His dress coat was tattered, covered in scratches from the claws of leaves and twigs. Leaves sprouted from him at every angle, and his hat was nearly tipping from the side of his head.

Moomintroll's heart sank. Butterflies were whirling inside his stomach. 

“Um…” He looked around and then lifted a nervous paw to wave. “Hello there! Lovely day, isn't-”

Snufkin screamed out, “You _idiot!_ ” and Moomintroll nearly tumbled off the rock. From the years he had known him, he had never heard Snufkin raise his voice that way before - let alone call him such a thing.

The silence was now broken. “Do you have _any idea_ how scared I was?” Snufkin cried out, his voice breaking in every step of the way. “How terrified and ill I felt to harbour these feelings towards you, knowing how selfish it was?”

He was moving further out into the clearing, feeling Moomintroll’s wide blue eyes burn into him. “I have always told myself that I could never be truly free if I admire someone too much. So as I thought about how as much as _thinking_ about you was betraying my own nature, all I could do was push everyone away and deny I was ever feeling anything!”

Moomintroll could feel himself trembling under the true hurt in Snufkin’s voice and eyes: something he never thought was even possible. Snufkin _never_ cried, and yet there was an unmistakable staining on his cheeks. “And the more I started putting myself back together…” Snufkin exhaled sharply. “The more I realised just how much of a fool I was being.” 

He revealed a mop of unkempt hair as he slowly withdrew his hat. “So the other night, I made the decision that I would wait for you. No matter how much time would pass, no matter how old I became, I would always be waiting for you. What else could I have done? You were with Snorkmaiden; it was the least selfish I could be. But I don’t know what that is anymore - I don’t even know if I can be selfish with you!”

The frost gnawed as he stopped. “But as soon as I decided that, when I was about to leave Moominvalley...with the most _impeccable_ of timing, you confessed to me. And then you chose to run away without explanation. I couldn’t just leave it as that because what kind of friend would I be if I didn't know something was bothering you this much? That you were truly pining for me all this time? And I know what it's like to run away from how you feel, and I am just about done with it!”

The tears cascaded freely down his face, which he palmed as though suffering from a migraine. “So _please_ just tell me, Moomintroll! It's driving me crazy! _Please just tell me you love me!_ ” 

There was a frantic series of footfalls, and arms suddenly tackled him around the waist and sent him falling on his back with a loud thud. A very tearful Moomintroll was right on top of him. “Snufkin, I’m sorry!” he wailed. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Please forgive me!”

Hot tears rolled from the troll's snout and all over Snufkin's hair, like rain after a midsummer evening. Snufkin gasped softly, blinking away tears that were flooding up his vision, and reached up to feel at those soft rabbit-like ears. “I…” His voice still cracked like ice. “I could never be mad at you, my Moomintroll.”

Moomintroll crushed his muzzle into Snufkin's chest and hugged him tautly, like Snufkin had the faintest inkling of vanishing if he did not hold on tight. “I-I love you,” he squalled. “You’re my most favourite person in the w-world, I couldn't- I…” He choked. “I love you, Snufkin.”

Snufkin wrapped his arms around his neck. “I love you too,” he murmured through fur. 

He welcomed the overwhelming flurry of emotions that came to him at this very moment, pushing the rules of his own nature at the back of his mind. Right now, this was all he cared about. He cared about feeling Moomintroll taking shuddering breaths under his arms as he muttered more sweet nothings, all that could be compiled until the winter could claim Snufkin away. Nothing else around them existed, simply a daze of the mind, and no care was given to the first snow that danced around them. 

There was a mutual feeling of lightness.

**Author's Note:**

> snufkin: newsflash asshole i've been in love with you the entire goddamn time.
> 
> i hope you liked crying: the moomins fanfiction. 
> 
> sorry it's short and seems a bit...disjointed? it was originally going to be longer but the first half was a bit - ahem, cringy and i wanted to skip right to snufkin losing his mind because who doesn't, honestly.
> 
> thank you for reading! oh jeez


End file.
